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Chapter Nineteen
‘So, madam: spill!’ said Roxy the second we sat down at the table and settled into the comfy leather seats of our favourite booth in the corner of Hush. ‘You’ve been teasing us for ages, and we need to know what you’ve been up to!’
Before we got caught up in conversation, we ordered our starters, mains and drinks, then after the waiter had left, it was time to begin the storytelling and reveal all about my Italian shenanigans.
After they’d both gushed about how much they loved my more relaxed look, I started by elaborating on the things I’d touched on during my WhatsApp messaging the weekend I’d arrived. How lovely Fran, Grace and Dan were, the cookery lessons, the fact I’d drunk out of a dirty glass and only worn minimal make-up, the villa, etc. And I showed them the pics I’d taken on my phone.
‘Oh, they all look lovely! So, that must be Fran, and that’s Grace, right?’ said Bella, pointing at each of their faces on the screen.
‘Yep,’ I replied.
They swiped through the pics of Florence whilst sipping on their G&Ts, then arrived at the shot of Erica and Lorenzo together.
‘Holy fuck! Who isthat?’ screamed a clearly impressed Roxy. ‘Isthatyour chef?’ she said, eyes growing wider by the second. ‘You lucky cow. And who’s she? Is that his wife?’
Roxy grabbed my phone, positioned her thumb and forefinger on the screen and started sliding them outwards to blow up the image and zoom in.
‘He is mighty fine,’ she added, giving her seal of approval as she continued scrolling through the photos. ‘Are there more pictures of him? He ishot!’
‘I have to agree,’ said Bella, leaning in to take a closer look.
‘Oooh, nice one,’ added Roxy. ‘You got a picture next to him here. Wait,’ she said, looking at me suspiciously. ‘You didn’t answer my question. Was that woman his wife? And what did you say you wanted to tell us again…?’ she asked.
I tried to play it cool for a bit longer to maintain the suspense, but I couldn’t help it. I started smiling uncontrollably. Roxy put two and two together and correctly made four. I began to blush.
‘Youdidn’t!’ Roxy screamed again. ‘Did you screw the chef? You dirty dog! Tell useverything!’
I smiled again slyly, still remaining silent. Both Bella’s and Roxy’s mouths were quite literally on the floor, and their eyes now looked wider than a seventy-five-inch flat-screen TV.
‘Well, no, notexactly,’ I said coyly, finally breaking my silence. ‘But let’s just say we spent averypleasurable evening together kissing passionately, touching, caressing, coming…’
‘I don’t bloody believe it!’ shouted Roxy. ‘You? Ms Uptight OCD MARGIN, frolicking with the married chef right under his wife’s nose?’
‘No!’ I protested. ‘He’s not married! She’s just his colleague. And excuse me, I’m not uptight and I don’t have OCD, thank you very much. I’m justparticularwith some things, that’s all.’ Of course, Roxy’s description of the old me was in fact spot-on.
Bella and Roxy both looked at each other as if to sayyeah rightand laughed.
‘Soph,’ said Bella as she smiled and lifted up her glass, gesturing a ‘cheers’ motion. ‘Well done, girl. Proud of you!’
‘So how did it happen?’ asked Roxy. ‘I’m pretty sure you mentioned on WhatsApp that the chef thought you wereshittoor something and that he didn’t like you. So I don’t get it,’ she said, looking confused.
‘I know!’ I said, still not quite believing it myself. ‘It’s crazy. But Erica—our host—the lady in the photo that he works with, started telling me and Fran that he’d slept with an average-looking guest and that he was a bit of a nympho. So I thought it was worth a try. Plus, I had your voices in my head, telling me I needed practice and to get myself back on the pitch, so that spurred me on to find a way to make things happen.’ I paused to take a sip of my G&T. ‘And so I propositioned him on the last night. He said he was up for it, and the next thing I know, we were rolling around on the sofa…’
I recounted the story in such a matter-of-fact way, like I was telling them a tale about popping out to M&S for a pint of milk.
They were both dumbfounded. If they didn’t pick their jaws off the floor pronto, I was worried that the waiter, who was now approaching with our starters, would crush them with his size 11s.
‘Well, say something, then!’ I said impatiently.
‘I’m speechless, Soph!’ said Roxy, still surprised. ‘I can’t bleeding believe it! Come here.’ She leant over and gave me a massive hug.
The waiter smiled as he rested the plates of tiger prawns, Korean spiced chicken and avocado salad down in front of us, then made a swift exit.
‘You did it!’ said Roxy proudly. ‘You got yourself on the pitch. How did it feel? More importantly, how didhefeel?’
‘Roxy…’ I said, starting to picture his body in my mind, which gave me the tingles. ‘He felt fucking amazing!’
‘I bet!’ added Bella, leaning in to hear more of my story.
